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Pharmacies and Email Marketing

By Dan Forootan, President of EZ Publishing

Generally speaking, the days of a patient running a prescription down to the corner drug store and having it filled with a pharmacist who was on a first name basis with all his customers are gone. While the independent pharmacist hasn’t quite yet gone the way of the typewriter repairman, he (or she) is growing increasingly rare in a world dominated by drugstore chains such as CVS and Rite Aid as well as super stores such as Target and Walmart that offer a pharmacy with discounted prescription prices.

What can the independent pharmacist do to retain business and keep more people from migrating to the bigger drugstores and chain stores? Email marketing for pharmacies is a must, but email marketing campaigns are not only cost-effective but easy to implement and capable of generating immediate, long-lasting results.

The one thing an independent pharmacist has over the chains is the personal touch. While email marketing for pharmacies might sound automatic and impersonal, the email marketing software required for campaigns can customize the messages a pharmacist sends and actually improve the relationship with his or her customers. From something as simple as addressing a customer by his or her first name to sending emails specifically targeted at medicine the customer is likely to purchase, email marketing for pharmacies will engage customers and ensure they continue using the independent pharmacist over the chain store.

An email marketing campaign is also essential to a pharmacist because it will help generate the purchase of non-prescription incidentals that are nonetheless the lifeblood of pharmacies. Email marketing doesn’t have to be just about prescriptions and medication—if you’re having a sale on certain foods, drinks or stationary, let consumers know. There’s no reason to forfeit sales of these staples to the bigger stores—encourage customers to do all their shopping at your pharmacy!

The email marketing software necessary for campaigns is also inexpensive to purchase—very important with independent pharmacists operating on a thinner budget than ever—and easy to implement by anyone with a modicum of computer training. Email marketing for pharmacies is simple to begin: just solicit email addresses at the store and/or by offering a prompt on the website inviting users to type in their email address. Getting email addresses from older clientele likely to frequent independent pharmacies may be difficult, but pharmacists can tap into an unusual market here: the adult children of older customers, who often pick up prescriptions for their parents or grandparents. Let these adult children know that email is the best way to stay informed about the pharmacy and ask for their email addresses so that the whole family can remain up to date on all the pharmacy offers.

Email marketing for pharmacies is an essential way for an independent pharmacist to remain in business and continue to thrive despite the plethora of other options available to consumers. And the email marketing software a pharmacist needs is uncomplicated and cost-effective, from purchase to execution. If you’re a pharmacist, begin looking into email marketing software today!

Dan Forootan is the President of EZ Publishing. The firm specializes in helping businesses harness the power of the Internet for marketing and to automate business processes. In addition to custom web applications, EZ Publishing offers permission-based email marketing via StreamSend, a leading provider of easy, affordable and dependable email marketing software for creating, sending and tracking email newsletter and other campaigns.